blog.mode: addressing fashion

Maniatis Bottier (French, founded 1920). Boots, 1920s. Left: Black leather, gold leather trim, and black twined cotton laces. Alfred Z. Solomon-Janet A. Sloane Endowment Fund, 2007 (2007.56a, b). Right: Red leather with black leather trim. Alfred Z. Solomon-Janet A. Sloane Endowment Fund, 2007 (2007.57a, b).

Maniatis, who was born in Greece, provided customized footwear for the likes of Cary Grant and Jean Gabin from his Paris shop in the ninth arrondissement. His location, near the Pigalle red-light district, perhaps helps to explain the design of these boots. Read more »

Left: John Galliano (British, born Gibraltar, 1960). Coat, fall/winter 1996–97. Magenta and forest green printed ivory felted wool with light blue, gray, and white striped silk with brocaded crest lining. Purchase, Irene Lewisohn Bequest, 2004 (2004.410). Right: John Galliano (British, born Gibraltar, 1960). Dress, fall/winter 1996–97. Beige laser-cut suede Gift of John Galliano S.A., 2005 (2005.46).

John Galliano’s fashion presentations, whether under his eponymous label or for the House of Dior, are typically theatrical extravaganzas. His themes are often wild syntheses of anachronistic juxtapositions and geographically conflated narratives. Read more »

French Bonnet, 1830–35. Ivory silk satin, ivory gauze, ivory silk tulle with ivory silk filament embroidery, egret and duck feathers, and ivory linen petal appliqué. Isabel Shults Fund, 2004 (2004.343).

In the 1830s the fashionable coiffeur was hair pulled back in a high single- or double-looped chignon with dense grapelike bunches of curls at the temples. This hairstyle influenced the profile of hats of the period, Read more »

Philip Treacy (British, born Ireland, 1967) for Alexander McQueen (British, b. 1969). “Chinese Garden” Headdress, spring/summer 2005. Cork. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Alfred Z. Solomon-Janet A. Sloane Endowment Fund, 2007 (2007.307).

Philip Treacy’s hats are exquisite sculptures. Read more »

Elsa Schiaparelli (French, born Italy, 1890–1973). Coat, spring 1939. Multicolored pieced felted wool. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Ruth Ford, 2002 (2002.479.4).

Society beauty and actress Ruth Ford was a favorite model for photographers from Cecil Beaton to George Platt Lynes. In the late 1930s the great British eccentric and Surrealist aficionado Edward James introduced her to Elsa Schiaparelli. Read more »

Odile Gilbert (French, 1957) for Gaultier Paris (French, founded 1997). Top Hat, fall/winter 2006–7. Black human hair. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Alfred Z. Solomon-Janet A. Sloane Endowment Fund, 2007 (2007.168).

Odile Gilbert is the creator of the coiffures for many of the most important designers in both ready-to-wear and haute couture. It was Gilbert who designed the swansdown and feather coifs for the mannequins used in The Costume Institute’s 2005 “Chanel” exhibition. Read more »

Simon Costin (British, b. 1963). “Incubus” Necklace, 1987. Silver, copper, Baroque pearls, and glass vials filled with samples of human sperm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Mr. Simon Costin, 2006 (2006.364a, b).

The “Incubus” necklace is perhaps Simon Costin’s most notorious piece. When it was first displayed in a London gallery in 1987, the design was impounded by the police, and the artist was threatened with prosecution. Read more »

Simon Costin (British, b. 1963). “Memento Mori” Necklace, 1986. Black synthetic tulle with jet-bead and rock-crystal embroidery, two bird claws, carved black wood beads, and three rabbit skulls with hematite eyes. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Alfred Z. Solomon-Janet A. Sloane Endowment Fund, 2006 (2006.354a–c).

Simon Costin’s work reflects his interest in decadent literature of the late nineteenth century. His use of taxidermy, seemingly retrieved from some obsessional collector’s cabinet, and his incorporation of materials evocative of the late Victorian cult of mourning are poised between poetic morbidity and necromantic glamour. Read more »

Elsa Peretti (American, born Italy, 1940). Belt, 1973. Sterling silver and enamel. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Irene Lewisohn Bequest, 2004 (2004.20).

With few exceptions, Elsa Peretti’s jewelry is inspired by nature or the gesture of the human hand, whether as spontaneous calligraphy or the pressure of the thumb in clay. Read more »

Stephen Jones (British, b. 1957). “Crow” Mask, 2006. Black coq feathers, black plastic, black neoprene, and gold plastic and rhinestone. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Alfred Z. Solomon-Janet A. Sloane Endowment Fund, 2006 (2006.209).

The Costume Institute commissioned this mask for the 2006 exhibition “Anglomania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion.” Milliner Stephen Jones was given the problem of creating a headdress for a Christian Dior Haute Couture gown by John Galliano Read more »